When I headed out for my morning walk yesterday, I turned right, instead of left to walk a few blocks to the Budd Park Esplanade. Kansas City Parks and Recreation has moved quickly on their commitments to the neighborhood to prepare spaces for native plantings, and I was interested to see what might have transpired since my trip to the site earlier in the week. I drive this section of Van Brunt Boulevard daily, yet on foot it is a different world altogether. Behind the whe

A small band of gardeners in Kansas City's Historic Northeast is growing organically around a simple idea: improving the neighborhood through the beauty and ecological benefits of native plants. The effort began with a conversation. During an Indian Mound Neighborhood Association meeting last November, Kay Hopkins and I discovered a shared interest. Kay, an association board member with training in the Master Naturalist program, and I, a longtime Master Gardener, quickly foun